Alderaan Stew and Oro Bark
by MustLoveMustyPages
Summary: Food, fun and friendship. Although, if Rey was cooking, the food was slightly questionable. And everything wasn't always exactly fun when you could be attacked at any moment. They were most definitely friends, though. Just friends. Even though one of them may have wanted something more.


Sometime in the last two hours, Poe's left arm had fallen asleep.

He's not exactly sure when it happened - one minute he had a fully functioning arm, and the next time he checked (two hours later) it was gone. Well, not _gone_ gone, just absent in feeling.

He wiggled his fingers just to check he was still alive, but then realized he couldn't _see_ said fingers on account of a head full of long, brown hair in his face.

"You two are adorable."

Poe tilted his head to the right and blinked a few times to push away the last remnants of sleep. Finn was sitting across from him, legs thrown over the wide arm of his chair. His lips were quirked in amusement.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Poe shot back quietly, extracting his arm from beneath the sleeping brunette and trying not to wake her.

He knew he'd failed when, a moment later, she stirred. She'd told him once, a few months ago or so, that she was quite a light sleeper. Not out of nature or biology but necessity.

After a little probing she'd confessed that when she was first living on her own, she'd had to deal with more than one unwanted guest at night. "Animals?" he'd guessed, even while his stomach had twisted at realizing the real truth.

She'd just shrugged and said, "When I was lucky," and then had proceeded to go on about all of the different traps and mechanisms she'd made to keep out said intruders.

Even still, nothing was foolproof. Your last line of defense was always yourself. Light sleeper = quicker reaction time = escape.

So Poe never woke up Rey when she was sleeping. He even thought he noticed a small uptick in her energy, but maybe that was just the full meals she was getting. Another conversation they'd had that Poe didn't like to think on much.

"What don't you know who's talking about?" Rey mumbled, stretching out her arms and legs before sitting up. She gave Poe a satisfied, peaceful smile.

Poe smiled back and stood up, trying to subtly shake out his arm even whilst it feeling like a million, miniature light sabers were stabbing his nerves. He walked closer to Finn and leaned down. "You say a word and I'll strip you of your name."

It was a threat he used a lot, but Finn just held his smirk. In part, because Poe would never do that to him. The second reason being that less than two days after they'd returned, General Leia Organa had made Finn an official member of the resistance, name tag and all.

"Don't let your girlfriend overhear you making threats- oof..." Finn had barely gotten out his reply back when Poe wrapped his arms around his neck in a headlock. Feeling had returned to his left appendage at a very convenient time.

"Girlfriend?"

Poe turned to see Rey frowning at them in confusion, fully awake now and walking over to where they were standing. He watched her pull a few hair ties off her wrist and make quick work of tying up her long, brown hair into a series of knots that were signature Rey. He'd even seen a few of the younger kids copying her hairstyle, boys and girls alike.

"Finn was just joking."

"Since when do you have a girlfriend?" Some unreadable emotion flashed across Rey's face, gone a second later.

Poe glared at Finn, still in the headlock.

"Yes, Finn was just joking," Finn parroted back. Poe loosened his grip and the kid slipped out. "Poe doesn't have a girlfriend."

"Oh." Rey brightened. Then, widening her eyes, she glanced away. "Uh, well... is anyone hungry?"

Both men visibly paused at the question. It wasn't that Rey was a _bad_ cook. Everything she made was at least _edible_. But when you've lived on packaged, minimal preparation food for most of your life, you didn't exactly develop a taste for seasoning. Or following recipes for that matter.

Before Poe could come up with a good excuse, Finn spoke up. "Why don't you help me prepare some Oro bark? Leia has been teaching me some of her family's old recipes."

Poe nodded quickly in agreement to that idea. Whereas Rey wasn't the best food preparer, somehow Finn, the boy made in a test tube and who had lived with the First Order for most of his life, was actually a natural in the kitchen.

The first week on base Poe had done most of the cooking for their little group. _Well,_ he cooked whenever they got tired of the bland stuff they served in the mess hall. Right from the start Finn had been eager to learn and after that first week where Poe had practically exhausted every recipe he knew, Finn had taken over making their food.

It might have been Poe's imagination, but he thought that Rey may have even looked a little relieved at having someone else be in charge of the cooking. She smiled widely. "That sounds great, Finn." Then she turned her brilliant smile on Poe, and he lost his train of thought for a moment. It wasn't the first time in the past few weeks that he noticed just how pretty Rey was.

Poe realized a beat too late that Rey had asked him a question when he saw her smile turn into a frown. "Sorry, I missed that. What did you say?"

While Rey was oblivious to his inner thoughts, Finn obviously was not, because he just gave a knowing laugh and said, "She asked if you wanted to join us."

"Uh, maybe later." He could take a minute to get his bearings and remind himself that they were _just friends_. A hint of disappointment flashed across Rey's face, and Poe rushed to reassure her. "I just need to check on the starfighter. Ping me on my comlink when the food's ready and I'll come over."

"Yeah," Finn said, slinging a friendly arm over Rey's shoulder and guiding her away. "Poe can never turn down food."

Rey just laughed in response and Poe watched them walk away. Taking a deep breath, he ran a hand down the side of his face and rushed off in the opposite direction. He had some things he needed to sort out.

* * *

"Poe!... Poe!"

Poe jerked upwards, knocking his head on the underside of his X-wing, which he had been laying under to take a look at a concerning panel that didn't seem to want to stay put. He groaned as black spots danced across his vision, and he slowly rolled out from under the spacecraft. Shielding his eyes against the barrage of bright light in the hangar, he squinted up to see Finn standing above him.

His friend did not look happy. Finn didn't even comment on the bruise that was without a doubt already forming on Poe's forehead. Instead, he just crossed his arms and looked down at Poe pointedly.

Maneuvering into an upright position, Poe set aside the metal tools in his hands and rested his elbows on his knees. "What's up?"

Instead of answering the question, Finn replied with another. "Where's your comlink?"

Confused, Poe reached for his belt where he kept the device... and landed on air. Realization dawning, he winced and glanced back at his friend. "I stopped by my bunk to change into my jumpsuit so I wouldn't get my civilian clothes dirty. I must have left the comlink in my other pants' pocket. Did you need something?"

Finn huffed, then rolled his eyes, seemingly not quite so mad anymore - just annoyed. "You promised to come eat with us."

Eyes widening, Poe stood up in a rush. A sharp pain shot up his skull and he stumbled forward slightly, Finn reaching out to stop him from falling. "Ugh."

"That's what you get for breaking promises. We finished the Oro bark _hours_ ago."

Placing a hand against the spot where he'd hit his head, Poe took a step back to be able to see Finn clearly. "I'm really sorry... How mad is she?"

Finn shrugged. "Not mad, just disappointed." He slapped a hand down on Poe's shoulder. "And for that matter, I am too."

Poe didn't even think to argue the point that it wasn't even a full-blown meal that he'd missed. For practically everyone else on base, it would have seemed like a trivial thing. For Finn, though, who had just recently escaped a cold, emotionless society without emotional connections, these small, seemingly insignificant things meant a lot.

They meant even more to Rey; however, because unlike Finn who had never had a family to begin with, Rey _had_ once upon a time. From Poe's understanding, they had abandoned her on the desolate Jakku when she was just a child. She liked to pretend she was tough, and when it came to the physical stuff - fighting and piloting - she was. With the emotional side of things, though, she always held back.

The fact that she had even told Poe anything at all about her childhood had been a huge thing. It had made him want to hunt down the so-called "family" that had done that to her. Since that was basically impossible, he had instead made a promise to himself that he would be the best surrogate family he could be. That meant protecting her from others as well as herself, providing a listening ear whenever she wanted to share, and most of all - never letting her feel abandoned ever again.

Poe let his shoulder droop under the weight of Finn's hand, acknowledging his failure. "I'll go talk to her."

Sighing, Finn just shook his head. "She's already gone to bed. It's actually pretty late. You lost a lot of time." He gave Poe a pointed look, then slung an arm around his shoulder and they started heading to the entrance of the hangar bay. "You have to make it up to her somehow. You know that right?"

"Yeah, I know." Poe tilted his head back to look at the man beside him. "And how am I going to make it up to you?"

Finn grinned. "No worries about that. Friends forgive friends, right?" Then his face sobered. "But Rey is a little bit more than just a friend." It wasn't a question.

Poe gave a thin smile back. "I know. I know."

* * *

"Hey, Finn, did you see where..." Poe trailed off, halting mid-step when he looked up and realized it wasn't Finn, but Rey that was standing there in the kitchen.

She didn't respond at first, but when she turned around, he realized why. Holding up a finger for him to wait a second, Rey chewed whatever was in her mouth quickly. "Sorry," she laughed, wiping at her mouth.

Poe grinned, nerves twisting in the pit of his stomach. He hadn't seen Rey in more than passing that day. Not since he'd missed the meal. "No problem. Actually, I thought Finn was going to be here."

"Funny," Rey said, although she didn't exactly sound amused. "I thought the same thing when I got his message about the food."

Poe glanced back in the hall for a moment as if Finn was going to magically appear, then took a step into the kitchen. "He probably got held up with the General's meeting."

Rey crossed her arms over chest and nodded considerably, taking a seat at the kitchen's lone, square table. "Oh, yeah. The last one ran over by a few hours. I don't think he'll be done anytime soon." She looked towards the door as if she too were trying to magically will Finn to enter anytime now.

"So..." Poe drew out, walking around the table and making his way over to the stove. The awkwardness was palpable. "What did Finn make us today?"

Rey picked a piece of paper off the table and held it over her shoulder for Poe to take. He quirked an eyebrow and read the paper aloud. "Alderaan stew."

"Another recipe from Leia," Rey explained. She shifted in her seat and jabbed a thumb at the other end of the counter where there was a lidded, plastic container. "Plus the leftovers from the Oro sticks we sweetened yesterday."

Although he knew she was trying to hide it, Poe could hear the hurt in her voice. Instead of responding right away, he filled two bowls with the still warm stew and placed one in front of Rey and the other at the seat across from her. Then he checked in the fridge for blue milk, which he knew was Rey's favorite, and poured a glass for her and some water for himself.

When he sat down at the table, Rey didn't say anything. She wasn't eating either, though, so he took that as his cue to say something.

"Look, I'm sorry about missing out on yesterday. I really didn't mean to."

Rey didn't look up at him from her bowl of stew, but her posture noticeably stiffened. She picked up the spoon and scooped a chunk of something red from her bowl, staring at it a moment before responding. "It's okay. It's not important."

That was obviously a lie and Poe wasn't going to take an easy out with this. She needed to understand. "Of course it's important. Hey, _look at me_."

Rey, who had been staring determinedly at the stew, finally looked up at the intensity in Poe's voice.

Having her full attention, Poe repeated himself. "Of course it's important, Rey. _You're_ important. Don't let anyone, including me, ever make you feel any different, okay?"

Rey nodded and started eating the stew then, and Poe after a moment's pause copied her.

"This is really good," she said after they had been eating in silence for a few minutes.

Part of Poe wanted to take her lead and agree. They could easily talk about the food and fall back into their normal routine. But another part of Poe felt like continuing on with the sudden urge of braveness he felt. One route led to familiarity. Friendship. The second route led to the unknown. Something that had the potential to be something more.

Not letting himself dwell on it for another moment in fear of talking himself out of it, Poe said, "You know, I really like hanging out like this."

"Me too," Rey replied, swirling the spoon around her bowl. "It's really fun when you, Finn and I hang out. Like our own little family."

Poe shook his head. "That's not exactly what I meant. I mean... yes, I like our group too. But I also like when it's just the two of us spending time together."

Rey froze and Poe could have sworn an entire lifetime passed by before she reacted. But then she did - her eyes darting up quickly to his face, then back down at her stew. A moment later, a wide smile overtook her face. "Me too."

* * *

About an hour later, Finn found his two friends chatting and laughing in the kitchen. It seemed like things were back to normal.

Or maybe not. At first glance, everything appeared the same, but upon closer inspection, Rey's smile was just a little bit bigger and Poe's laugh just a tad louder. Something had changed. Maybe the idiot had finally told Rey how he felt about her.

"It was about time," Finn muttered under his breath, walking into the kitchen.

It took them a moment to notice his presence, thus confirming that yes, something had _definitely_ changed.

Poe turned around in his seat towards the door. "Finn!" he exclaimed with an uncharacteristic amount of enthusiasm, standing up and walking over to the stove. "I'll get you a bowl of stew."

Rey pulled out the chair beside her and motioned for him to sit down, which he did. "How was the meeting with General Leia?" she asked, resting an arm on the table and turning to look at him.

"Pretty good," Finn replied, suddenly a little nervous.

"That was one extra long meeting," Poe said, ladling the stew into a clean bowl while reaching over to the drawer of utensils.

Finn sucked in a breath and Rey eyed his reaction curiously. "Yeah, about that," he started. They were going to find out eventually. He may as well be the one to tell them. "I, uh... the meeting actually ended two hours ago." Rey stared at him, expressionless. "You see," he continued, pushing on, "I just wanted you two to-"

Finn had to cut his statement short to dodge the spoon that had been lodged at his head while the girl beside him simultaneously punched his shoulder.

Okay, so maybe getting the two of them together hadn't actually been that great of an idea.

* * *

 **This was written for the JediFest Exchange on Tumblr, with the following prompt -**

 **\- Wants: Rey/Poe. Character /**

 **\- Doesn't Want: No AUs in the Second world war times.**

 **To requestor: Hopefully this sort of fulfills what you were looking for! I tried to make the time a little ambiguous so it could fit in between Episodes VII and VIII (or just any indeterminate time in the future). And for character development, I mostly aimed for developing Rey's backstory, sprinkling in little bits of her past and expanding slightly on what my headcanon assumes her life was like.**

 **Let me know what you think! I love feedback.**


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